The Catholic priest from St. Louis who police said was protesting nuclear weapons by trespassing at a Weld County missile silo pleaded not guilty Thursday to the charges of trespassing and criminal mischief.

Carl Kabat, 75, being held in Weld County Jail on a $5,000 bond, will go to trial on Dec. 9. His next court appearance on the misdemeanor charges will be at 11 a.m. Oct. 15.

Authorities say Kabat cut a hole in a fence Aug. 6 at the N7 missile silo off Weld County Road 113, about 40 miles northeast of Greeley, to protest nuclear weapons. It was his second time at that particular missile silo since 2004, and his third such arrest. He trespassed at another Weld silo in 2000.

During his incarceration, a friend, Bill Sulzman, has been fighting to have Kabat’s glasses returned to him.

Kabat, Sulzman said, has only one eye and loves to read, but he needs his own lenses. Sulzman said he has been told the glasses were confiscated because they are considered evidence. Sulzman was in town Thursday trying to secure the return of Kabat’s glasses, but ended the day unsure if it would happen.

“I don’t think it’s very humanitarian,” Sulzman said.*

*Sulzman reported Sept. 18 that he was finally able to get Kabat’s glasses returned to him.